Deep Time - East Fork
50 million years ago, part of a marine bay filled with ocean life was lifted slowly into the sky, then was exposed, crumbled and worn away by wind and water, and was finally pushed back down the mountain by water and gravity. Some day, maybe 5,000 to 10,000 years from now, it will again find its way back to the ocean, part of another marine layer awaiting its time to be thrust back into the sky.
A photo of this same mountain creek shows the water flowing over our bit of ancient sediment, but captured in frozen motion because of the speed at which it is taken. The sheets of water look very much like the rock, a wavy and translucent curtain, frozen in motion and frozen in time, for all intents and purposes no more living or flowing than the bedrock which made up the backbone of these mountains.
What of a creature whose lifespan was but 1/250 of a second in length, who was born, lived, and died, all within this short period of time? What would it think of water? Would it die thinking that water was something like we think of rock?
In comparison to the 135 million years that these mountains have cycled through seabed to eroding peaks, our lives will last just about that same 1/250 of a second. Like small creatures that saw only frozen water,our view of geologic processes can scarcely comprehend the true nature of the living rock beneath our feet. These mountains, this earth, live in deep time. Who are we to say they are not as alive and vibrant as the water that flows through them?
- Text adapted from Raymond Ford, Jr., "Day Hikes of Santa Barbara."
East Fork, copyright 1998 by The cipher. This photo was taken in February 1998 (the rainy season) at the pair of box canyon falls, up the east fork of Cold Spring Creek, Santa Barbara, California. This area is not accessible by trail, one must rock-hop up this rarely hiked creek for over an hour after leaving the east fork trail.